An Edward James survey found 83% of Americans believe they cannot afford the cost of a college education. Interestingly, only 37% of Americans earning more than $100,000 per year think they could cover the cost of an education for themselves or a family member. The survey also discovered that only 34% of Americans know that the 529 plan is a tool designed to help save for the cost of a higher education.

Financial advisors have long argued against any sort of debt during retirement; however, Tom Anderson, a wealth manager at Morgan Stanley, disagrees. According to Wealth Management, Anderson believes, "Financial advisors need to adopt a more sophisticated view of client debt, taking advantage of low-cost borrowing opportunities to boost liquidity and wealth." Anderson says there are three types of debt: Oppressive (credit cards, payday loans, etc.), working (mortgage, student loans, etc.) and enriching (providing liquidity). He believes retirees should work hard to pay off oppressive debt, not rush into paying off working debt, and take advantage of enriching debt.

Investor Stanley Druckenmiller says the aging US population will be a "massive, massive problem" in 15 years. Bloomberg says Druckenmiller believes, "The mushrooming costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will bankrupt the nation’s youth and eventually result in a crisis worse than the financial meltdown of 2008." Druckenmiller also thinks companies are "nuts" for borrowing money to buyback stock.

Morgan Stanley was fined $2 million by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for short-selling violations that occurred over the course of more than six years. The regulatory agency said Morgan Stanley failed to "completely and accurately" report its short interest positions and "violated a rule requiring that firms aggregate their positions in a security to determine if they are long or short," according to Reuters.

Simon Mulcahy, senior vice president and general manager of financial services for Salesforce, says, "Members of Gen X are now substantial owners of wealth and in significant leadership positions, but advisors tend to treat them like baby boomers and expect Gen Xers to interact with them on the advisor's terms, not their own." Research released by Salesforce concluded Americans aged 35 to 54 are more likely to use tech-oriented financial tools to plan for their retirement because they disagree with advisors on how their portfolio should be constructed. The Gen-X approach to retirement aligns more closely with millennials, who also use tech-oriented tools, but for a different reason. Younger investors look to technology as a way to avoid high fees.